National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans

National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans
Name	National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans
Abbreviation	NCCMP
Formation	1972
Type	Nonprofit advocacy organization
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Leader title	President & CEO
Leader name	Scott D. Davison

National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans is a nonprofit advocacy coalition that represents trustees, administrators, and professional service providers connected to multiemployer pension and health plans in the United States. The committee engages with legislative bodies, regulatory agencies, and labor and industry coalitions to shape policy concerning the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, pension insurance, pension rehabilitation, and collective bargaining. The organization interacts frequently with members of Congress, federal departments, national labor unions, employer associations, and actuarial and legal firms.

Overview

The committee serves as a liaison among trustees of Taft–Hartley plans, representatives linked to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Service Employees International Union, and United Food and Commercial Workers, and employers from the AFL–CIO Building Trades, United Mine Workers, and Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union sectors. It provides testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, and the Department of Labor. The group produces reports that utilize analyses from the Society of Actuaries, American Academy of Actuaries, Milliman, and the Pension Rights Center, and it collaborates with legal firms experienced with the Internal Revenue Service and Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation.

History

Formed in the early 1970s amid debates over pension funding standards and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the committee emerged parallel to developments involving the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, National Labor Relations Board disputes, and collective bargaining trends affecting multiemployer plans in construction, trucking, and hospitality industries. Over decades the organization engaged with administrations from Nixon through Biden, testifying on legislative measures such as the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act, Pension Protection Act, and coronavirus relief statutes passed during the Trump and Obama presidencies. The committee’s evolution reflects interactions with think tanks like the Brookings Institution, Heritage Foundation, Urban Institute, and Economic Policy Institute, and with congressional leaders including chairs of key committees in the Senate and House.

Organization and Governance

Governance is structured through a board drawn from trustees representing unions such as the International Association of Machinists, United Steelworkers, and Amalgamated Transit Union, and employer groups including the National Association of Manufacturers and Associated Builders and Contractors. Executive leadership liaises with law firms, actuarial consultancies, and benefit administrators; board committees mirror structures found in corporate governance at institutions like the Securities and Exchange Commission, Government Accountability Office, and National Labor Relations Board. Annual meetings attract delegations from the Department of the Treasury, Congressional Budget Office, and major university pension researchers from Harvard Kennedy School, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Policy Positions and Advocacy

The committee advocates for legislative remedies to address underfunding, promotes measures that affect Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums, and supports options for plan rehabilitation and partition modeled after proposals advanced in Congressional hearings and White House budget documents. Its policy briefs reference work by the Congressional Research Service, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and National Academy of Social Insurance, and it argues positions in contrast to proposals from the Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, and some state governors. The NCCMP submits amicus briefs in cases before the United States Supreme Court, engages with the Department of Labor on fiduciary rules, and coordinates messaging with labor federations such as the AFL–CIO and Change to Win.

Member Organizations and Stakeholders

Membership includes trustees and administrators from large multiemployer funds in Teamsters Central States, Bakery and Confectionery Union, Carpenters Union funds, United Auto Workers, and Electrical Workers plans, as well as employers from the National Restaurant Association, American Hotel & Lodging Association, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers funds. Service providers include actuarial firms like Buck Consultants, Towers Watson, and Willis Towers Watson; law firms admitted before the Supreme Court and experienced with ERISA litigation; and benefit consultants who have worked with the Social Security Administration, Medicare trustees, and state pension boards. Stakeholders extend to retiree organizations, such as AARP, and academic centers focused on retirement policy at Columbia, Michigan, and UC Berkeley.

Major Campaigns and Initiatives

Campaigns have centered on promoting legislative frameworks comparable to the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act debates, defending plan rehabilitation plans during municipal insolvency cases like those involving Detroit and Puerto Rico, and seeking PBGC restructuring measures considered during congressional omnibus negotiations. Initiatives include educational workshops with the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries, coalitions with the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans’ allies in the Joint Select Committee style coalition, and participation in multi-stakeholder task forces convened by the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Milken Institute to explore long-term funding solutions.

Criticism and Controversies

Critics, including some elected officials, retiree advocacy groups, and conservative policy organizations, have disputed the NCCMP’s positions on benefit suspensions, PBGC premium adjustments, and proposed federal loans or guarantees, arguing those proposals favor employer flexibility over retiree protections. Controversies have arisen during high-profile insolvency cases and bankruptcy proceedings where bankruptcy courts, federal judges, and state attorneys general weighed competing plans proposed by trustees aligned with NCCMP positions. Debates often involve analyses from the Congressional Budget Office, Government Accountability Office, and private litigators, and have prompted scrutiny from media outlets such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.

Category:Pension funds